Commercial article printing typically occurs during the production of the article. For example, ball skins are printed with patterns or logos prior to the ball being completed and inflated. Consequently, a non-production establishment, such as a distribution site or retail store, for example, in a region in which potential product customers support multiple professional or collegiate teams, needs to keep an inventory of products bearing the logos of various teams popular in the area. Ordering the correct number of products for each different logo to maintain the inventory can be problematic.
One way to address these issues in non-production outlets is to keep unprinted versions of the products, and print the patterns or logos on them at the distribution site or retail store. Printers known as direct-to-object (DTO) printers have been developed for printing individual objects. Some of these printers use UV curable materials to form images on the objects. UV curable materials require a UV radiation source that directs UV light onto the materials on the object surface. This light cures the materials and helps eliminate vapors that otherwise emanate from the materials. Some of these vapors may be noxious to humans and non-reacted components may irritate human skin.
To avoid issues that can arise from UV curable materials that have not been completely cured, the images formed with these materials are typically tested for the completeness of their cure. One way of testing the curing of these materials is to have a person rub the image on the object with a cloth or swab containing a solvent, such as isopropyl alcohol. If the material is not fully cured, then some of the uncured material rubs off and can be observed on the cloth or swab. While this method is effective, it does possess some problems. For one, the testing person can be exposed to the vapors from the uncured UV material or the person's skin may be irritated by non-reacted components. Additionally, because the method is performed by hand, the techniques of the testers differ and those differences can affect the results of the tests. This method can also be time-consuming because it is performed by humans and it is not integral to the printing of the objects. An automated method for verifying the curing of UV curable materials would be beneficial.